Biometric Challenges for Future Deployments: A Study of the Impact of Geography, Climate, Culture, and Social Conditions on the Effective Collection of Biometrics

In February 2008, the Deputy Secretary of Defense signed a DoD Directive that established the Secretary of the Army as the DoD Executive Agent for DoD biometrics. The directive also indicated the importance of biometrics as a fully integrated enabling technology intended to support military operations. Even before that directive was signed, biometrics was being used extensively in a range of military operations. Despite its success, there has been little investigation of the potential use of biometrics in future operations. This report consists of two parts that summarize the conditions under which biometric collection may occur in future Army deployments. Part I describes a range of biometric modalities and discusses technical factors associated with their use in various environmental contexts. Part II describes social and anthropological considerations that lead to effective biometric collection.
The original document contains color images.